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<h1>Etiquette for the Direct Connect Network</h1>
<br/>
<h2>Hubs and Rules</h2>
<ul>
  <li>
  When you join a hub, you should read the hub rules. Almost every hub sends
  those to you when you enter (either by chat or private message). The rules
  can be very diverse and obviously take precedence over the guidelines
  outlined here.
  </li>
  <li>
  Operators in a hub (the ones with the <em>key</em> icon) can ban you from
  the hub if they please. Most operators are friendly people, some aren't.
  However unfriendly an operator might be, he is always right... <em>but only in
  that hub</em>. If unfriendly operators make your stay in that hub unpleasant,
  leave and join a different hub. There are plenty of other hubs and users that
  <em>do</em> appreciate your files and your presence.
  </li>
</ul>
<h2>Sharing Files</h2>
<ul>
  <li>
  Don't share files that you wouldn't want to download yourself. Prime
  examples of files that no one wants:
  <ul>
    <li>Your Windows folder</li>
    <li>Your Program Files folder</li>
    <li>Your Documents and Settings folder</li>
    <li>Your Recycle Bin (if you don't want the files, why would we?)</li>
    <li>Your homework / e-mails / temp files / cookies</li>
    <li>Incomplete files</li>
  </ul>
  </li>
  <li>
  Don't disconnect from Hubs in which you are downloading from a particular
  user. (DC++ users have the option to punish this behaviour by setting the
  appropriate option in Advanced settings that closes downloads of peers that
  leave the Hub.)
  </li>
  <li>
  Share as many <em>interesting</em> files as possible. If everyone shared only
  a few files, Direct Connect wouldn't be such a great network.
  </li>
</ul>
<h2>Asking for Slots</h2>
<ul>
  <li>
  Read someones description before asking for a slot. If the user has something
  similar to "NO SLOTBEGGING" in their description, it's likely that asking for
  a slot will do you nor them any good. Be patient and wait just like everbody
  else.
  </li>
  <li>
  When asking for slots, be polite. Be more polite if the user shares a lot more
  than most users in the Hub. Be even more polite if the users shares a lot more
  than <em>you</em> do.
  </li>
  <li>
  When asking for slot, specify what you want to download. Some users have a
  preference to hand out slots for rare stuff. Rare stuff does NOT include
  <em>new</em> stuff. Don't ask for slots for something that is new (a couple of
  hours or days). Most likely you're not the only one who wants the file(s) and
  you'll only piss off the one who has the new stuff. (Remember that the user
  has a limited bandwidth (just like you do) and cannot hand out slots to
  everyone, or no one would get the file(s) at all because the upload speeds
  would converge to zero).
  </li>
</ul>
<h2>Miscellaneous</h2>
<ul>
  <li>
  Don't ask for files in main chat. The exception to this rule is when you've
  <em>searched for the file(s) first and the search came up empty</em> and you
  have the hope that someone might have the file(s) stored on a removable
  medium.
  </li>
  <li>
  Don't use excessive punctuation marks. Especially, usage of many (more than two
  or three) question or exclamation marks gives your peers the impression that
  you are an immature child. The same goes for excessive usage of capital
  letters.
  </li>
</ul>
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